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January 5, 2009

Rob Shearman and Adam Marek

Rob’s first collection of short stories, called TINY DEATHS,
was published by Comma Press in 2007. It is currently a nominee for
two World Fantasy Awards, both for best short story and best collection,
and was also shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and
nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story
Prize.

His second collection, LOVE SONGS FOR THE SHY AND CYNICAL, is to
be published in early 2009. Christmas 2008 sees the publication of
the Doctor Who novel he has co-written for BBC Books, called THE
STORY OF MARTHA.

He's written over twenty plays for the stage, and won many awards
for them, including the World Drama Trust Award, the Sunday Times
Playwriting Award, the Sophie Winter Memorial Trust Award, and the
Guinness Award for Theatre Ingenuity in association with the Royal
National Theatre. Most recently, he directed a revival of his play
'Shaw Cornered' as international representative at the Old World
Theatre Festival in Delhi.

A few years ago he was lured to the world of radio and television;
he's written many plays for BBC Radio 4, usually produced by Martin
Jarvis, and his most notable TV credit was as writer for the first
series of the revived 'Doctor Who' - the season as a whole won a
BAFTA, and his episode was nominated for a Hugo Award. Earlier this
year his short story project for BBC7, 'The Chain Gang', won him
a Sony Award.

Adam Marek’s short stories have been published in Prospect
magazine and in anthologies including Parenthesis and The new uncanny
from Comma Press, two Bridport Prize anthologies and New Writing
15.

His collection of short stories Instruction manual for swallowing
was published by Comma Press in 2007, and was described in The Guardian
as a 'transgressive thrill to read' and The Independent as showing
a 'genuine unsettling talent'. It was longlisted for the Frank O’Connor
prize – the biggest prize in the world for a collection of
short stories.

He has read at many events, including the Manchester Literature
Festival, the London short story festival, Lancaster Litfest and
the Frank O’Connor festival in Cork, Ireland. Right now, he
is working on his first novel.

In this debut collection, the English short story receives an
injection of something new and compelling and spooky. Alex Linklater